The mark Billie Holiday left on the history of jazz music was indelible. From being the first African American woman to work with an all-white band to her haunting rendition of the song 'Strange Fruit' which later became one of the first protest songs for the Civil Rights Movement, 'Lady Day' was nothing short of a trailblazer.
And now, a musical play about her life is taking to the stage at Arts Centre Melbourne's Fairfax Studio. Running until December 2, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill stars the award-winning Zahra Newman as Billie Holiday and features her greatest hits such as 'Strange Fruit' to 'I'll be Seeing You' and 'What a Little Moonlight Can Do.'
Set late one night at Emerson's Bar and Grill in Philadelphia; the show is loosely inspired by one of Holiday's last public performances four months before she died in 1959. Lanie Robertson's Tony Award-winning musical play threads anecdotes of Holiday's highs and lows with 14 of her greatest songs to make for a rich tapestry full of love, loss and laughter.
You can get tickets to see Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill on the Arts Centre Melbourne website here. Read Charlotte Smee's review of Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill from its run at Sydney's Belvoir Theatre here.
